The last five months have provided us with a number of opportunities to reflect on the importance of our local community. Where we live, shop, enjoy leisure pursuits or where we send our children to school have become increasingly important to us. This is our community, the place we are proud to live, the place we call home. It is where we belong.
We have marvelled at the creativity and ingenuity of local businesses who have worked hard at introducing social distancing to their premises in order that their workforce and customers can enjoy a safe and pleasant environment in which to shop. Many of us have become more acquainted with our neighbours, sharing the products of “on line shops “or collecting much needed medication from pharmacies.
We may have rediscovered our local parks, our coastal path or even walked down roads we used to drive along. The simple things have become cherished; we have reconnected with our community and we realise that each of us has an increasingly important role to play in sustaining our locality as we emerge from the grip of Covid 19.
The shops, hairdressers, bars, restaurants and local businesses need our support more than ever now. We must follow the rules; regular washing of hands, social distancing, and the wearing of masks will form an important part of our lives in the months to come.
As parents it is essential that we inform our children that being young does not make you immune to the virus. Our teenagers must play their part and follow the rules to protect not only themselves but those around them. Being a parent of teenagers can be challenging and worrying but now more than ever they are going to require positive, consistent support and opportunities to discuss the rationale behind the rules associated with this “new norm”
All of us will have witnessed the way in which various organisations have worked to deal with this pandemic. As the weeks have passed we have become familiar with scientific terms such as the R rate, asymptomatic, self-isolation, trace and test. This knowledge is important for us if we are to keep healthy and drive down the incidence of the virus.
Our Local Authority has an absolutely essential role in helping to deal with outbreaks of the virus. Local Authorities have received £300 million in additional funding to help respond to the pandemic locally. They are working hand in hand with the local Director of Public Health, the NHS and other partners, using Test and Trace to identify and contain potential outbreaks of the virus in areas such as workplaces, housing complexes, care homes and schools. The utilisation of local services enables swift and effective action to be implemented ensuring those that need to be informed to self-isolate do so and therefore reduce further outbreaks.
Test and Trace cannot be run centrally. Outbreaks of this virus are occurring in local communities. Professional bodies, voluntary and religious groups within these communities are familiar with the locality and, as such, will be more effective in managing outbreaks than people who are many miles away.
What we are witnessing is in fact an aspect of Localism. The Localism Act 2011 decentralises power. For far too long central government had concentrated power from the centre, trying to improve people’s lives by making decisions and setting targets. It has not worked efficiently and that is why we have witnessed the increasingly important role of Metropolitan Mayors in regions across the country. Interestingly, this development has in some regions not been recognised by the local electorate who appeared disinterested in the voting process.
However, how we behave in our locality as autumn and winter approaches will be fundamental in ensuring not only our own personal health and wellbeing but that of our precious community. Thinking and acting communally has never been so important. The schools, shops, bars, cinemas, charities, restaurants and businesses and all those associated with them are looking to us for “life support.”
That life support is provided by us, playing our part. Washing or sanitising our hands, observing social distancing, wearing a mask and, if showing symptoms, getting tested for the virus will be essential to our survival and the survival of our community. The reality is, that “flattening the curve “ is an active continuous process, a goal that each one of us must take into account when making decisions each day.
The key workers who played a crucial role at the height of the pandemic now see us as the “ key players” We know a great deal more about this virus than we did at the beginning of the outbreak. We know how easily it is transmitted and we have the knowledge of the methods to employ to curtail its spread. There is no excuse for selfishness, ignorance or stupidity, personal accountability is vital.
Failure by any one individual to play their part as a key player in defeating Covid 19 will enable an unseen virus to rip the heart out of our community, destroying the very things we hold so dear. Life as we have known it, changed for ever and the future very uncertain.
